Cognition In Autism Spectrum Disorder Research Articles

Clinical and neuropsychological correlates of theta-band functional excitation-inhibition ratio in autism: an EEG study

ObjectiveHow abnormal brain signaling impacts cognition in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remained elusive. This study aimed to investigate the local and global brain signaling in ASD indicated by theta-band functional excitation-inhibition (fE/I) ratio and explored psychophysiological relationships between fE/I, cognitive deficits, and ASD symptomatology. MethodsA total of 83 ASD and typically developing (TD) individuals participated in this study. Participants’ interference control and set-shifting abilities were assessed. Resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) was used for estimating theta-band fE/I ratio. ResultsASD individuals (n = 31 without visual EEG abnormality; n = 22 with visual EEG abnormality) generally performed slower in a cognitive task tapping interference control and set-maintenance abilities, but only ASD individuals with visually abnormal EEG performed significantly slower than their TD counterparts (Bonferroni-corrected ps < .001). Heightened theta-band fE/I ratios at the whole-head level, left and right hemispheres were observed in the ASD subgroup without visual EEG abnormality only (Bonferroni-corrected ps < .001), which remained highly significant when only data from medication-naïve participants were analyzed. In addition, higher left hemispheric fE/I ratios in ASD individuals without visual EEG abnormality were significantly correlated with faster interference control task performance, in turn faster reaction time was significantly associated with less severe restricted, repetitive behavior (Bonferroni-corrected ps ≤ .0017). ConclusionsDifferential theta-band fE/I within the ASD population. Heightened theta-band fE/I in ASD without visual EEG abnormality may be associated with more efficient filtering of distractors and a less severe ASD symptom manifestation. SignificanceBrain signaling, indicated by theta-band fE/I, was different in ASD subgroups. Only ASD with visually-normal EEG showed heightened theta-band fE/I, which was associated with faster processing of visual distractors during a cognitive task. More efficient distractor filtering was associated with less restricted, repetitive behaviors.

The Physiology of Cognition in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Current and Future Challenges.

Cognitive impairment is among the most challenging characteristics of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although ASD is one of the common neurodevelopmental disorders, we are still behind in diagnosing and treating cognitive impairment in ASD. Cognitive impairment in ASD varies, meaning it could be at the sensory perception level to cognitive processing, learning, and memory. There are no diagnostic criteria for cognitive impairment that are specific to ASD. The leading causes of cognitive impairment in ASD could be neurological, immune, and gastrointestinal dysfunction. Immune dysfunction might lead to neuroinflammation, affecting neural connectivity, glutamate/gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) balance, and plasticity. The gut-brain axes are essential in the developing brain. Special retinal changes have recently been detected in ASD, which need clinical investigation to find their possible role in early diagnosis. Early intervention is crucial for ASD cognitive dysfunction. Due to the heterogeneity of the disease, the clinical manifestation of ASD makes it difficult for clinicians to develop gold-standard diagnostic and therapeutic criteria. We suggest a triad for diagnosis, which includes clinical tests for immune and gastrointestinal dysfunction biomarkers, clinical examination for the retina, and an objective neurocognitive evaluation for ASD, and to develop a treatment strategy involving these three aspects. Developing clear treatment criteria for cognitive impairment for ASD would improve the quality of life of ASD people and their caregivers and would delay or prevent dementia-related disorders in ASD people.

Use of Methylphenidate to Improve Cognition in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

IntroductionMethylphenidate (MPH) is used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and has shown unique benefits in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In addition to improving attention, hyperactivity, and repetitive movement, it also improves cognition in ASD. Our focus is to explore the understudied benefits and safety of methylphenidate use for cognition in ASD children.Objectives1) To study the response and benefit of methylphenidate in autistic kids to improve cognition and life function.2) To assess the safety profile and risks of using methylphenidate at different doses in children with autism as a guiding tool for prescribing physicians.MethodsA literature search was conducted using relevant medical subject headings (MeSH) terms in PubMed, Medline, and PubMed Central. We identified all published articles from inception until September 30, 2022. Initial search results found 41 studies, of which 15 were excluded as they did not meet inclusion and exclusion criteria. After a thorough full-text review, we included 5 studies in our final qualitative synthesis review.ResultsMethylphenidate was found to have the unique benefit of increasing cognitive processing speed, thus improving everyday life function in ASD and ADHD children compared with only ADHD, with a clinical significance of p&lt;0.001. Stimulants may improve the processing of social situations and interactions or social functions due to this unique response (Peled, J et al. Nordic journal of psychiatry 2020; 74(3), 163–167) A clinically significant performance gain on cognitive tasks was identified with a linear dose-response at three different doses (10 mg, 15 mg, 20 mg) of methylphenidate. ASD children with ADHD made significantly fewer omission errors, [F(3,69) = 7.21, p &lt; 0.001], and commission errors [F(3,69) = 4.64, p = 0.005] on MPH, compared to placebo. They also showed more response at higher MPH doses, [F(3,69) = 10.45, p &lt; 0.001]. Thus, the children were faster, more accurate, and had fewer errors at higher MPH doses (Pearson, D. A. et al. Journal of child and adolescent psychopharmacology 2020; 30(7), 414–426). There were no serious side effects or suicidality reported for low dose and a medium dose of MPH in ASD children assessed with Response Impressions and Side Effects Checklist-Kids (RISC-K), A 38-item parent rating scale (Kim, S. J. et al. Journal of autism and developmental disorders 2017; 47(8), 2307–2313).ConclusionsThe findings support the positive response of methylphenidate on cognitive function in ASD children. No serious adverse effects or suicidality were noted. Multi-center well-designed studies are recommended to determine further efficacy and safety of MPH in ASD children for cognition.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

The effect of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on social cognition in autism spectrum disorder: preliminary analysis of a pilot clinical trial

The effect of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on social cognition in autism spectrum disorder: preliminary analysis of a pilot clinical trial

Cerebellar Contributions to Social Cognition in ASD: A Predictive Processing Framework.

Functional, structural, and cytoarchitectural differences in the cerebellum are consistently reported in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Despite this, the mechanisms governing cerebellar contributions to ASD, particularly within the sociocognitive domain, are not well understood. Recently, it has been suggested that several core features of ASD may be associated with challenges creating and using prior expectations or predictions to rapidly adapt to changing stimuli or situations, also known as adaptive prediction. Importantly, neuroimaging, clinical, and animal work find that the cerebellum supports adaptive prediction in both motor and non-motor domains. Perturbations to the cerebellum via injury or neuromodulation have been associated with impairments in predictive skills. Here, we review evidence for a cerebellar role in social cognition and adaptive prediction across individuals with and without ASD.

The cognitive benefits of bilingualism in autism spectrum disorder: Is theory of mind boosted and by which underlying factors?

This study examined whether bilingualism boosts Theory of Mind as measured by a non-verbal false belief (FB) task in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and how this potential boost may stem from improvements in a variety of other domains, namely executive functions (EFs), language, metalinguistic awareness skills, as well as autism severity. One hundred and three children with ASD (7- to 15-year-olds) (43 bilingual and 60 age- and IQ-matched monolingual children) were tested on a nonverbal task of attentional switching, working memory and updating task, and an online, low-verbal first-order FB task. Results showed a clear FB benefit for bilingual children with ASD as compared with their monolingual peers. There were also boosts in EF, however, there is no evidence that these EF boosts drove the FB advantage. Enhanced FB was not explained either by language, metalinguistic skills, or lower autism severity. While the results do not conclusively settle the debate on what triggers the ToM advantage in bilingual children with ASD, the empirical picture of the current study suggests that the ToM component of FB understanding in bilingual children with ASD is enhanced by the bilingual experience per se. LAY SUMMARY: The current study aimed to determine if and how bilingualism may improve the ability to understand others' beliefs in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We assessed their belief reasoning alongside a series of other skills hypothesized to be beneficial for such reasoning, namely understanding, producing, and thinking about language, recalling and switching between information, and the severity of their autistic symptoms. The overall findings highlight advantages for bilingual children with ASD over their monolingual peers for grasping beliefs, thus suggesting that pursuing bilingualism may be beneficial for cognition in ASD. Other boosts were also associated with bilingualism, such as recalling and switching between information, but these boosts were not directly related to belief understanding, highlighting the beneficial role of bilingualism per se.

Face perception predicts affective theory of mind in autism spectrum disorder but not schizophrenia or typical development.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SCZ) have overlapping symptomatology related to difficulties with social cognition. Yet, few studies have directly compared social cognition in ASD, SCZ, and typical development (TD). The current study examined individual differences in face recognition and its relation to affective theory of mind (ToM) in each diagnostic group. Adults with ASD (n = 31), SCZ (n = 43), and TD (n = 47) between the ages of 18 and 48 years-old with full scale IQ above 80 participated in this study. The Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) measured affective ToM, and the Benton Facial Recognition Test (BFRT) measured face perception. Adults with ASD and SCZ did not differ in their affective ToM abilities, and both groups showed affective ToM difficulties compared with TD. However, better face recognition ability uniquely predicted better affective ToM ability in ASD. Results suggest that affective ToM difficulties may relate to face processing in ASD but not SCZ. By clarifying the complex nature of individual differences in affective ToM and face recognition difficulties in these disorders, the present study suggests there may be divergent mechanisms underlying pathways to social dysfunction in ASD compared with SCZ. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Social Cognition in Autism Spectrum Disorder Across the Adult Lifespan: Influence of Age and Sex on Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task in a Cross-sectional Sample.

Background: Approximately 50,000 U.S. teens with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) become adults every year, however little is known regarding how age influences social cognition and if men and women with ASD are differentially impacted across the adult lifespan. Social cognition declines non-linearly with age in neurotypical (NT) adults. Moreover, sex differences have been observed on RME tasks in NT adults but not adults with ASD, although aging effects have been largely ignored.Objective: This cross-sectional study examined the influence of age and sex on social cognition in adults with ASD compared to NT adults.Methods: The Reading the Mind in the Eyes (RME) task was administered to evaluate the theory of mind abilities in 95 adults with ASD and 82 NT adults ages 18–71 years. The main effects of diagnosis, age, and sex, as well as two-way and three-way interaction were modeled using linear and quadratic aging terms in a multiple regression analysis.Results: A main effect of diagnosis was observed, indicating poorer performance in adults with ASD relative to NT adults. Age and sex interactions were nonsignificant.Discussion: We replicated previous findings of reduced theory of mind (ToM) abilities in adults with ASD, compared to NT adults. While interactions were nonsignificant, visual inspection of quadratic age curves indicated the possibility of unique ToM trajectories in men and women with and without ASD that should be investigated in larger longitudinal studies.

Conditional entropy approach to analyze cognitive dynamics in autism spectrum disorder

ABSTRACT Objective Preliminary evidence has documented functional connectivity during the cognitive task in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, evidence of effective neural connectivity with respect to information flow between different brain regions during complex tasks is missing. The present paper aims to provide insights into the cognition-based neural dynamics reflecting information exchange in brain network under cognitive load in ASD. Methods Twenty-two individuals with ASD (8–18 years) and 18 Typically Developing (TD; 6–17 years) individuals participated in the cognitive task of differentiating risky from neutral stimuli. The Conditional Entropy (CE) technique is applied upon task-activated Electroencephalogram (EEG) to measure the causal influence of the activity of brain’s one Region of interest (ROI) over another. Results A higher CE in frontal ROI and left hemisphere reflected atypical brain complexity in ASD. The absence of causal effect, poor Coupling Strength (CS; measured using CE) and hemisphere lateralization is responsible for lower cognition in ASD. However, the persistent information exchange during the task reflects the existence of certain alternative paths when other direct paths remained disconnected due to cognitive impairment. The Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier showed that CE can identify the atypical information exchange with an accuracy of 96.89% and area under curve = 0.987. Discussion The statistical results reflect a significant change in the information flow between different ROIs in ASD. A correlation of CS and behavioral domain suggests that the cognitive decline could be predicted from the connectivity patterns. Thus, CS could be a potential biomarker to identify cognitive status at a higher discrimination rate in ASD.

Short White Matter Tracts Myelinization is Associated With Impaired Social Cognition in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A NODDI and Relaxometry Study

Short White Matter Tracts Myelinization is Associated With Impaired Social Cognition in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A NODDI and Relaxometry Study

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Neural and Behavioral Facets of Social Cognition in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Neural and Behavioral Facets of Social Cognition in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Neural Processing of Dynamic Animated Social Interactions in Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A High-Density Electroencephalography Study.

Background: Atypical neural processing of social visual information contributes to impaired social cognition in autism spectrum disorder. However, evidence for early developmental alterations in neural processing of social contingencies is scarce. Most studies in the literature have been conducted in older children and adults. Here, we aimed to investigate alterations in neural processing of social visual information in children with autism spectrum disorder compared to age-matched typically developing peers. Methods: We used a combination of 129-channel electroencephalography and high-resolution eye-tracking to study differences in the neural processing of dynamic cartoons containing human-like social interactions between 14 male children with autism spectrum disorder and 14 typically developing male children, aged 2–5 years. Using a microstate approach, we identified four prototypical maps in both groups and compared the temporal characteristics and inverse solutions (activation of neural sources) of these maps between groups. Results: Inverse solutions of the group maps that were most dominant during free viewing of the dynamic cartoons indicated decreased prefrontal and cingulate activation, impaired activation of the premotor cortex, and increased activation of parietal, temporal, occipital, and cerebellar regions in children with autism spectrum disorder compared to their typically developing peers. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that impairments in brain regions involved in processing social contingencies embedded in dynamic cartoons are present from an early age in autism spectrum disorder. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate neural processing of social interactions of children with autism spectrum disorder using dynamic semi-naturalistic stimuli.

Pupil Dilation Progression Modulates Aberrant Social Cognition in Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Progression of pupil dilation (PD) in response to visual stimuli may indicate distinct internal processes. No study has been performed on PD progression during a social cognition task. Here, we describe PD progression during the Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition (MASC) test in n = 23 adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and n = 24 age, IQ and sex-matched neurotypical controls (NTC). The MASC consists of 43 video sequences depicting human social interactions, each followed by a multiple-choice question concerning characters' mental states. PD progression data were extracted by eye tracking and controlled for fixation behavior. Segmenting PD progression during video sequences by principal component analysis, three sequential PD components were unveiled. In ASD compared with NTC, a distinct PD progression was observed with increased constriction amplitude, increased dilation latency, and increased dilation amplitude that correlated with PD progression components. These components predicted social cognition performance. The first and second PD components correlated positively with MASC behavioral performance in ASD but negatively in NTC. These PD components may be interpreted as indicators of sensory-perceptual processing and attention function. In ASD, aberrant sensory-perceptual processing and attention function could contribute to attenuated social cognition performance. This needs to be tested by additional studies combining the respective cognitive tests and the outlined PD progression analysis. Phasic activity of the locus coeruleus-norepinephrine system is discussed as putatively shared underlying mechanism. Autism Res2019. © 2019 The Authors. Autism Research published by International Society for Autism Research published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: In adolescents with autism, we found an altered pupil dilation during watching scenes of human interactions. Early pupil dilation correlated positively with the number of correct answers to questions about the shown human interactions. Our findings suggest that aberrant sensory processing and attention function may contribute to altered social cognition in autism.

Psychometric Evaluation of Social Cognitive Measures for Adults with Autism.

Although social cognition is frequently identified as a target in clinical trials and psychosocial interventions for adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), these efforts are hampered by a lack of consensus and validation of social cognitive measures. The current study provides psychometric evaluation of 11 frequently used measures encompassing different subdomains of social cognition. Adults with autism (N = 103) and typically developing controls (N = 95) completed 11 commonly used social cognitive tasks spanning the domains of emotion processing, social perception, and mentalizing/theory of mind. We examined each measure's internal reliability and sensitivity to group differences, how performance related to general intellectual ability, and alignment of measures with a proposed two‐factor structure of social cognition in ASD. Controls outperformed the ASD group on 8 of the 11 social cognitive tasks, with the largest group differences occurring on two mentalizing measures, The awareness of social inference task (TASIT) and hinting task. In ASD, all tasks demonstrated strong internal consistency and avoided ceiling and floor effects. Social cognitive performance was also related to, but not redundant with, intellectual functioning. We also found support for a two‐factor structure of social cognition, with basic social perception and emotional processing aligning into a lower‐order social perception factor, while mentalizing tasks aligned into a higher‐order social appraisal factor. In sum, eight tasks showed adequate to strong psychometric properties. The psychometric data, effect size estimates, and correlations between measures reported here can be used for study planning for social cognitive interventions in autism. Autism Research 2019, 12: 766–778. © 2019 The Authors. Autism Research published by International Society for Autism Research published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Lay SummaryWe examined 11 tasks that measure how adults with autism perceive and interpret social information. Eight of the tasks were reliable and showed lower performance in adults with autism compared to typically‐developing controls. Task performance was related to but distinguishable from IQ. These measures evaluated here may be useful in assessing the effectiveness of interventions and treatments to improve social abilities in adults with autism.

Probing Mechanical Properties of Brain in a Tuberous Sclerosis Model of Autism.

Causes of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are understood poorly, making diagnosis and treatment challenging. While many studies have investigated the biochemical and genetic aspects of ASD, whether and how mechanical characteristics of the autistic brain can modulate neuronal connectivity and cognition in ASD are unknown. Previously, it has been shown that ASD brains are characterized by abnormal white matter and disorganized neuronal connectivity; we hypothesized that these significant cellular-level structural changes may translate to changes in the mechanical properties of the autistic brain or regions therein. Here, we focused on tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), a genetic disorder with a high penetrance of ASD. We investigated mechanical differences between murine brains obtained from control and TSC cohorts at various deformation length- and time-scales. At the microscale, we conducted creep-compliance and stress relaxation experiments using atomic force microscope(AFM)-enabled indentation. At the mesoscale, we conducted impact indentation using a pendulum-based instrumented indenter to extract mechanical energy dissipation metrics. At the macroscale, we used oscillatory shear rheology to quantify the frequency-dependent shear moduli. Despite significant changes in the cellular organization of TSC brain tissue, we found no corresponding changes in the quantified mechanical properties at every length- and time-scale explored. This investigation of the mechanical characteristics of the brain has broadened our understanding of causes and markers of TSC/ASD, while raising questions about whether any mechanical differences can be detected in other animal models of ASD or other disease models that also feature abnormal brain structure.

Local structural connectivity is associated with social cognition in autism spectrum disorder.

The current theory implying local, short-range overconnectivity in autism spectrum disorder, contrasting with long-range underconnectivity, is based on heterogeneous results, on limited data involving functional connectivity studies, on heterogeneous paediatric populations and non-specific methodologies. In this work, we studied short-distance structural connectivity in a homogeneous population of males with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder and used a novel methodology specifically suited for assessing U-shaped short-distance tracts, including a recently developed tractography-based atlas of the superficial white matter fibres. We acquired diffusion-weighted MRI for 58 males (27 subjects with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder and 31 control subjects) and extracted the mean generalized fractional anisotropy of 63 short-distance tracts. Neuropsychological evaluation included Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale IV (WAIS-IV), Communication Checklist-Adult, Empathy Quotient, Social Responsiveness Scale and Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult (BRIEF-A). In contradiction with the models of short-range over-connectivity in autism spectrum disorder, we found that patients with autism spectrum disorder had a significantly decreased anatomical connectivity in a component comprising 13 short tracts compared to controls. Specific short-tract atypicalities in temporal lobe and insula were significantly associated with clinical manifestations of autism spectrum disorder such as social awareness, language structure, pragmatic skills and empathy, emphasizing their importance in social dysfunction. Short-range decreased anatomical connectivity may thus be an important substrate of social deficits in autism spectrum disorder, in contrast with current models.

In Search of Biomarkers for Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) lacks validated measures of core social functions across development stages suitable for clinical trials. We assessed the concurrent validity between ASD clinical measures and putative biomarkers of core deficits, and their feasibility of implementation in human studies. Datasets from two adult ASD studies were combined (observational study [n = 19] and interventional study baseline data [n = 19]). Potential biomarkers included eye‐tracking, olfaction, and auditory and visual emotion recognition assessed via the Affective Speech Recognition test (ASR) and Reading‐the‐Mind‐in‐the‐Eyes Test (RMET). Current functioning was assessed with intelligence quotient (IQ), adaptive skill testing, and behavioral ratings. Autism severity was determined by the Autism Diagnostic Observation Scale‐2 and Social Communication Interaction Test (SCIT). Exploratory measures showed varying significant associations across ASD severity, adaptive skills, and behavior. Eye tracking endpoints showed little relationship to adaptive ability but correlated with severity and behavior. ASR scores significantly correlated with most adaptive behavior domains, as well as severity. Olfaction predicted visual and auditory emotion recognition. SCIT scores related moderately to multiple severity domains, and was the only measure not related with IQ. RMET accuracy was less related to ASD features. Eye tracking, SCIT, and ASR showed high test–retest reliability. We documented associations of proximal biomarkers of social functioning with multiple ASD dimensions. With the exception of SCIT, most correlations were modest, limiting utility as proxy measures of social communication. Feasibility and reliability were high for eye‐tracking, ASR, and SCIT. Overall, several novel experimental paradigms showed potential as social biomarkers or surrogate markers in ASD. Autism Research 2018, 11: 1567–1579. © 2018 The Authors. Autism Research published by International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Lay SummaryMore accurate measurements of treatment effects are needed to help the development of new drug treatments for autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This study evaluates the relationship between assessments designed to measure behaviors associated with social communication and cognition in ASD with clinical and diagnostic assessments of symptom severity as well as their implementation. The assessments including eye‐tracking, auditory and visual social stimuli recognition, and olfaction identification showed potential for use in the evaluation of treatments for social difficulties in ASD.

Exploratory Study of Executive Function Abilities Across the Adult Lifespan in Individuals Receiving an ASD Diagnosis in Adulthood

Little is known about cognition in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) across adulthood. We examined executive function abilities and autism traits in 134 adults receiving a first diagnosis of ASD. Participants aged 18–75 years with abilities in the normal range were assessed on executive function and self-report autism traits. Results suggest that for some abilities relying on speed and sequencing (Trails A and B; Digit Symbol), late-diagnosed individuals with ASD may demonstrate better performance than typical age-norms. On other executive measures (Digit Span, Hayling and Brixton tests) age-related correlations were similar to typical age-norms. Different domains of executive function may demonstrate different trajectories for ageing with ASD, with patterns of slower, accelerated or equivalent age-related change being observed across different measures.

P.1.j.040 - Social cognition in autism spectrum disorder is associated with brain serotonin transporter availability

P.1.j.040 - Social cognition in autism spectrum disorder is associated with brain serotonin transporter availability

Dissociation of Brain Activation in Autism and Schizotypal Personality Disorder During Social Judgments.

BackgroundThere are overlaps between autism and schizophrenia but these are particularly pronounced, especially in social domains, for higher functioning individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) or schizotypal personality disorder (SPD). It is not known whether these overlapping social deficits result from shared or distinct brain mechanisms. We therefore compared social cognition in ASD and SPD using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).MethodsTwenty-one individuals with SPD, 28 with ASD and 33 controls were compared with respect to clinical symptoms using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale; social cognition, using a social judgment task and Ekman 60 faces task; and brain activation using an fMRI task of social judgment.ResultsThe ASD and SPD groups showed few differences in symptoms or social cognition. However, fMRI showed that, compared to ASD, the SPD group showed significantly greater activation during social compared to gender judgments in the amygdala and 3 clusters: right posterior cerebellum, extending into fusiform and inferior temporal gyri; left posterior cerebellum; and left intraparietal sulcus extending through medial portions of the temporal gyri into the fusiform gyrus (all P < .05 family-wise error corrected). Control activations lay between the ASD and SPD groups.ConclusionsAlthough social cognitive deficits in ASD and SPD appear superficially similar they are the result of different brain mechanisms. These findings have implications for therapeutic interventions targeted at social dysfunction in these conditions.